ESCONDIDO MAYOR
EXPLAINS RAISES

At town hall forum, Sam Abed says hikes given to managers came from savings

ESCONDIDO 
Escondido is an efficient, well-managed city that has succeeded in downsizing its government and balancing its budget, Mayor Sam Abed told several dozen people at his third town-hall meeting last week.

Abed used the first part of the meeting to try to deflect weeks of criticism over management raises and to promote accomplishments during his 18 months as mayor.

News reports in March originally stated that raises totaling more $173,000 a year were given to 11 managers. On Wednesday, Abed and Phillips said that 16 raises totaling $200,000 were given.

Rank-and-file city employees, who have seen their pay decreased by wage freezes and furloughs, and residents were outraged. At the time, City Manager Clay Phillips said the raises, which were awarded to top administrators making more than $100,000 a year, were needed to retain quality employees.

Officials, including council members Olga Diaz and Ed Gallo, and the public questioned why the city had money for raises when cuts were being made elsewhere, including the closing last June of the East Valley Branch Library.

On Wednesday, Abed and Phillips explained the reasons for the raises and the source of the money, showing several charts on management compensation.

Phillips said the “salary adjustments” were partial restorations of previous cuts. With the exception of two managers, the executives who received raises are still working at 3 percent below what they were in 2009, Phillips said.

According to information presented by Abed and Phillips, raises for 16 managers, rather than 11 as the media reported, were given totaling about $200,000. The money came from $1 million in savings achieved by not filling eight management positions over the past two years, Abed said. The roughly $800,000 remaining is being used for city services, including the library and Fire Department, he said.

According to a salary comparison compiled by Abed, Escondido’s department heads are the lowest-paid in North County, with the exception of finance director.

Abed said the City Council has directed Phillips to work on restoring “competitive pay” for employees as money becomes available within a balanced city budget that doesn’t dip into reserves. Contract negotiations with the police union are under way.

About a dozen speakers participated in the question-and-answer portion of the meeting, many with budget-related questions. The meeting took a tense turn when the mayor stopped one speaker, 25-year resident John Ward, while he read a prepared statement about the city’s reputation and asked him several times for a specific question.

Abed told Ward that his town-hall meeting was for asking questions, not for making statements. Ward repeatedly asked the mayor to let him finish, and a few audience members shouted, “This is our town hall.”